{"product_id":"2026600000552-secondhand-the-tilted-cross","title":"The Tilted Cross","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdition: 1st ed.,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good                          \u003cbr\u003eJacket: Wear and tear\u003cbr\u003ePages: Tanning and foxing                  \u003cbr\u003eMarkings: No markings\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Boards - good. Binding - tight. Clean text.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA darkly compelling work of Australian literary fiction, The Tilted Cross chronicles the brutal and morally complex world of colonial Van Diemen's Land — present-day Tasmania — in the mid-nineteenth century. Drawing from the real-life story of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, a convicted poisoner and forger transported to the penal colony, Hal Porter constructs a vivid and unflinching portrait of depravity, social hypocrisy, and the grotesque theatre of colonial society. Written in Porter's characteristically ornate and baroque prose style, the novel presents its cast of convicts, gaolers, and social climbers with savage wit and an almost theatrical intensity. The narrative uncovers the corruption lurking beneath the veneer of respectability, arguing implicitly that civilization itself is a kind of performance staged over a foundation of cruelty. Regarded as one of the masterworks of mid-twentieth-century Australian literature, it remains a challenging and rewarding read for those drawn to historical fiction of uncommon literary ambition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48792284725467,"sku":"2026600000552-SECONDHAND","price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/b78ff4a0-1e5c-4257-bcbd-080adcfd5e71.png?v=1779274637","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026600000552-secondhand-the-tilted-cross","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}